Definition : Cadastre - Cadastral operation

If you are shopping for an apartment, ask yourself if it is located in a divided or undivided co-ownership. Although these two concepts are similar, as they ultimately aim to share the same building by several people called co-owners, the legal and financial implications are not the same. These two types of co-ownership thus have very different terms of ownership, ownership and liability between the co-owners of a building. A look at the main distinctions between divided co-ownership and undivided co-ownership.  

Whether you are a real estate developer (for a new building) or several owners of an existing building who wish to convert it, the rules for subjecting a building to divided co-ownership are the same. The creation of a divided co-ownership is necessary when an immovable must be divided into lots composed of a private portion and a share  of the common portions, and which belong to one or more different persons. The community of co-owners acquires the status of legal person from the day a declaration of co-ownership is published at the Land registry office (Land Register). The legal person thus constituted takes the name of “syndicate of co-owners”. Its mission is to ensure the " preservation of the immovable, the maintenance and administration of the common portions, the protection of the rights appurtenant to the immovable or the co-ownership, as well as all business in the common interest ". To form this co-ownership several steps involving many protagonists are necessary.

An immovable whose dwellings are all occupied by undivided owners, can be converted into divided co-ownerships, subject to certain conditions. But carrying out this conversion requires to overcome several steps involving all owners concerned.

Most often than not declarations of co-ownership (Constituting Act of co-ownership) designate the legal status of exterior parking spaces as common portions for restricted use. This is also true for indoor parkings, when the developer (declarant) decides that it is not necessary to create a specific lot number for each space. These are therefore an integral part of the lot constituting the common portions of the immovable.  

A phased co-ownership allows the developer to spread the design of a real estate project over several years, and to modulate the pace of construction work according to the evolution of unit sales. This formula implies that the developer, rather than establishing once and for all the co-ownership he wants to create, proceeds in stages. The co-ownership he creates as part of this real estate project evolves, during construction, before reaching its final form. Because of the complex legal structure, only lawyers and notaries who are fully knowledgeable in the applicable rules of the field should act. A phased co-ownership is also beneficial to consumers. From the time the first buildings are developed, buyers usually know what to expect about the direction of the project, its location and the nature of the buildings to come. This protection is important because if, for example, a developer were to suffer a setback, his successors would be required to honour the original plans and respect what was represented to first-time buyers.